CASLPA Rep & Free Turkey

So..say hello to the University of Alberta's student co-rep for CASLPA! Now, you ask what is CASLPA? CASLPA is the Canadian Association of Speech-Language Pathologists and Audiologists. so, me and another classmate represent CASLPA for our class. And..my duties include answering questions that prospective student may have about SLP at the UofA, since my name is actually listed on the CASLPA site . Cool huh? Okay, so I'm not totally clear about my duties yet..but I'll find that out soon once I read over the student binder they gave me. Now..the random thought has occurred to me..does being a CASLPA student rep also mean I have to join CASLPA as a student member? mm..I wonder! anyhoo, this monday I have a teleconference with the rest of the student reps from across Canada. It'll be sort of a meet & greet, but through telephone of course.

random story of the week
Yesterday, my roommate & I decided to do some grocery shopping. and let me tell you, it was one of the most hilarious experiences I've ever had. It sure made for an interesting trip. So, it first started off by us getting a rather rickety shopping cart that couldn't quite turn corners. Evidently, this would be a problem when you start loading up on grocerries and you find you can't even turn the corner without a WIDE turn. So, there we were..my roommate and I, two girls buying enough food for a family of 5! why? we have no idea..but I suppose we were 'stocking up' & our fridge was quite empty. But, the amount of food we bought paid off! We managed to spend enough to score ourselves a free butterball turkey! Except, we didn't know we had this freebie until the cashier told us. So, despite the irritated people behind us..my roomate ran down the ailes to grab us the free turkey. and..to end it all off, as we were navitaging our rickety cart to the car, we got stuck & the strawberries fell off the cart. Unfortunately, some of them tumbled to the ground right into a small mud puddle :( BUT these were awesome strawberries, the sweet smelling ones, and we couldn't bear the loss and had to pick them up!! no worries, we did wash & sanitize them by putting them in a salt water bath. mmhm. those were amazing strawberries!

I turned 23!

So..friday came and went, and I am now officially 23. It seems so odd to look at that number and comprehend that I'm actually 23. Like usual, yesterday while working out on the elliptical machines I had this desire to put in 21. anyhoo..let me describe my birthday. Presents came a bit earlier which was great, since I was feeling rather gloomy the day before my birthday (I had an icky lab that had me sitting at school until 5:30) When I returned home, I had an awesome (& interesting) care package waiting for me :) Thanks guys! It means so much to me :)

Anyhoo, I had the pleasure of dissecting a sheep's brain at 8:30 in the morning. Thankfully, I didn't eat much for breakfast that morning..since the smell of the fermeldehyde makes my stomach turn. Then went out for cupcakes with some girls in the afternoon, dinner & a movie with my roomate, and then a 2nd dessert at a nice lounge/restaurant. So, thankfully I did have people to spend my birthday with :) It made the homesick feeling go away. :)

school begins!

@ 8:30 am on a Wed morning my studies in Msc SLP begins. I have so many readings to do, it's hard not to be overwhelmed. I guess it doesn't really help that all the 2nd years keep telling us "that it will be okay", "you will survive". Apparantly the readings are tedious and you can't read them all! I've had a full rotation of all the classes now, and am slowly getting to know the rest of my classmates. At times, I feel like I'm going to an all-girls school since there aren't any guys in my class.

Friday came and went, and I'm super glad that I decided to get myself out of the apartment and check out Intervarsity. I really miss ACF, so it was good to spend my Friday night with a bunch of Christians enjoying a bbq, and playing lifesize monopoly! We even had lifesize objects including a lawn mower, ironing board, vacuum cleaner, ladder and wheelbarrow! It also turns out that one of my classmates decided to check out Intervarsity on Friday so we got to meet in a non-school env't..which is great. :) Today, I went to a fellowship called GIFT. Got my bbq meat & associated items..and met lots of people. I think my head is going to explode with all the new names in my head. REally clicked with some people there so perhaps I'll keep going :) . I'll give it a bit longer before I make my decision.

anyhoo. Off to bed. It's only 11, but I'm headed to Sunday school tomorrow! 9am. Update later about churches and all. I'm sure I'll find a home here soon, it'll just take a bit of time.

a week in alberta

It's been a week since I left Toronto for Alberta and I feel like I've done so many things! The first day I landed in Edmonton I met my new roomie, showed my parents around the apartment, picked up my keys, got a UofA student card, and had dinner with some family friends. Saturday, my parents and I headed down to Calgary to have dinner with some V&L. Spent the next couple of days with relatives going to the Icefields (which was actually quite cold!) The icefields were pretty cool. You basically found yourself standing on super thick ice with glaciers all around you. Some people even took home some 'glacier water'. Apparantly it may have some extra minerals for some 'healthy drinking'. Also toured around Jasper National Park, and stayed a night in Camden. It's this quaint little town that's great for not only skiing and snowboarding in the winter but it's also where prime real estate with a view of the rocky mountains can be found. Definitely a beautiful place.

And now, once again the days have passed and I moved all my belongings Ikea-bought furniture into my new place. Good thing I tried the key this morning, since the leasing office actually gave me the wrong key! So..it was a good thing my roomate was at home. :) That pretty much sums up everything that has been going on with me here in Alberta. ooh, and tonight I went out for steak and some yummy dessert with good company. All in all, a good first week in Alberta.

Below are some pics of the beautiful rockies. I'll post more pics into my album later.